A Not So Happy Birthday Party
by TracyT
Summary: It's Lanie's Birthday


Title: A Not So Happy Birthday Party

Author: TracyT

Rating: K+

Category: Romance, Angst

Summary: It's Lanie's birthday

Spoilers: None, really

Archive: Yes, Please!

Feedback : Feed me, Seymour at

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It is a labor of love.

Author's Note: I adapted this from a scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where Harry and Hermione are talking after Hermione sees Lavender kiss Ron. Sorry, it's a sad one.

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"Lanie?" Kate opened Lanie's bedroom door, looking for her friend. It was empty. She closed the door again and went back down the hallway. She had to wade through the crowd in the living room to get to the kitchen.

It was Lanie's birthday. Lanie's sister, Kendra, was holding a birthday party for Lanie at Lanie's house, because it was bigger than her apartment. Lanie lived in a semi-detached house in Queens, with a tiny yard in the front and a rather sizeable back yard. A grill was set up out back cooking hamburgers and hot dogs.

The party would have been great except for two things. One, Castle came and brought Gina with him, and two, Esposito had arrived with a stunning blonde he'd introduced as Marla. Kate knew how Lanie felt about Esposito, and had seen the smile vanish from her friend's face when he walked in, hand in hand with Marla. Lanie might have held it together if not for Marla deciding to grab Javi's face and perform her own version of a tonsillectomy on him in front of everyone. Lanie had vanished after that, and Kate was a bit desperate to find her. As she'd gone toward the bedroom, she glanced over to see Gina sitting on Castle's knee, her legs between his and his arm around her. She had a beer in her hand while the two chatted with Ryan and Jenny. How cozy. Kate's teeth clenched and she moved on.

In the kitchen, she looked out the window over the sink and saw Lanie sitting on the back steps, a bottle of beer in her hand. To the casual observer she was minding the grill, but Kate could tell by the slump of her shoulders the meat on the grill could burst into flames and she probably wouldn't notice. She pulled the back door open and stepped out.

"Lanie," Kate said softly, pulling the door shut behind her and descending the stairs to sit next to her friend. "You okay?" She put an arm around her and hugged her to her side.

Lanie sniffled and looked up, tears in her eyes. "Yeah, happy birthday to me, huh?"

"Lanie, I'm so sorry." Lanie leaned her head against Kate's shoulder.

"No," she shook her head and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I was stupid to think he was interested in me."

Kate made a tsking sound. "No you weren't. Why wouldn't he be interested in you?"

"'Cause 5 foot 4 Lanie is not 5 foot 9, voluptuous, BLONDE Marla, that's why." She sniffled again.

"Well, he's an idiot, then," Kate declared emphatically.

Lanie shook her head. "No, he's just a guy. But I really, really liked him." A small sob escaped her, and Kate hugged her and let her cry.

After a moment Lanie raised her head. "Kate, what's it like for you when you see Castle with Gina?"

Kate raised her chin. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, I _know. _I've seen the way you look at him. You're my best friend, I know you."

Kate opened her mouth to answer, just as Esposito and Marla came tumbling out the back door, arms around each other, laughing about something. Lanie was instantly on her feet, facing away from them. Kate stood to let the couple get down the steps, but gave Esposito a look as he went by. His smile faltered as if he was going to question her stare, but instead he stopped and said, "Lanie, Marla and I gotta go. Thanks for the party and happy birthday."

Hiding in the fall of her hair, Lanie murmured. "Thanks…and thanks for coming." The couple disappeared around the side of the house. Kate heard them say something to someone else before the sound of car doors and an engine started.

Lanie looked up at Kate, a tear running down her face, and it broke Kate's heart. She went to give her a fierce hug, hurting for her friend.

"To answer your question," Kate said softly, her voice wobbling. "It's like this. Just like this." Lanie hugged her back tightly.

Fin


End file.
